Toy vehicle with track drive mechanism having an internal power source

ABSTRACT

This application discloses a track drive mechanism which may be utilized for toys or the like. All of the necessary parts of the mechanism are physically mounted inside of an endless track. The mechanism is detachably secured to any one of a wide variety of body designs to provide a high-velocity track driven device.

U n ite 5115 States Patent inventor Mathias H. Rlesgral 4945 PenninePass, Minneapolis, Minn. 5542] Appl. No 742,043

Filed July 2, 1968 Patented July 6, 1971 TOY VEHICLE WITH TRACK DRIVEMECHANHSM HAVING AN INTERNAL POWER SOURCE 17 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 46/243 M, 180/96 Int. Cl A6311 17/24 Field of Search 46/243,

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3,517,457 6/1970 Peno 6.46/243 3,041,485 6/1962 Jolley 46/244 X 2,584,512 2/1952 Strait 180/964X 3,023,824 3/1962 Bombardier 7. 180/964 3,065,569 11/1962 Nielson et al46/244 Primary Examiner- Louis G. Mancene Assistant Examiner- Robert F.Cutting Attorney-Schroeder, Siegfried & Ryan ABSTRACT: This applicationdiscloses a track drive mechanism which may be utilized for toys or thelike. All of the necessary parts of the mechanism are physically mountedinside of an endless track. The mechanism is detachably secured to anyone of a wide variety of body designs to provide a high-velocity trackdriven device.

PATENTEDJUL BIHYI 3.590.523

SHEET 1 BF 2 I NVE N TOR. MATHIAS H. RIESGRAF B/tm ATTORNEY PATENTEU JUL6 I9?! 3, 590 523 SHEET 2 OF 2 I NVENTOR. MATHMS H. RIESGRAF /ZK/Q 71247 ATTOR N E Y TOY VEHICLE WITH TRACK DRIVE MECHANISM HAVING AN INTERNALPOWER SOURCE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains toamusement devices and more particularly self-contained motor-operateddevices.

There are many prior-art toys which utilize a track drive. However,these toys are expensive to manufacture and thus have a fairly limitedmarket. In addition, these prior-art toys, such as the tanks andtractors now offered for sale, are relatively large and heavy. Thisprecludes obtaining a highvelocity drive because the power source islimited and the track drive must be geared down to obtain sufficientdriving force. In addition, high-velocity operation is also-limited insuch devices because of the inability to retain the track on the rollersuspension. Still another limitation is the increased friction in theprior art devices due to the fact that the necessary drive elementsmounted remote from the tracks.

I SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The applicant's invention is an improvementover the prior art, low-velocity track drive mechanisms which mount thenecessary elements of the track drive remote from the tracks. Theapplicant has overcome the disadvantages of the prior art byutilizing anextremely compact, lightweight and low-cost design which places all ofthe necessary parts of the track drive mechanism inside of the track.Various design features are utilized to obtain a high-velocity trackdrive mechanism. The track drive mechanism is easily attached to any ofvarious toy body constructions allowing the manufacturer a wide optionof body choices while utilizing the same track drive mechanism design.

The applicant's invention comprises a track drive mechanism including anendless track rotatably mounted relative to a housing by means of twospaced-apart rollers. Motor means and means connecting the motor meansto at least one of the rollers are positioned inside of the trackbetween the two rollers. That is, the track circumscribes all of thenecessary elements of the drive mechanism. The track drive mechanism isdetachably secured to various toy body elements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevation view of theapplicants track drive mechanism attached to a toy snowmobile body;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the track drive mechanism with the track cutaway;

FIG. 3 is a partial plan view of an alternate track drive mechanisni; 1

FIG. 4 is a partial cross-sectional elevation view of the track drivemechanism of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the steering assembly utilized in thesnowmobile body; and

FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 6-6 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to FIG. 1,reference numeral I0 generally depicts the applicants unique track drivemechanism. The mechanism includes the drive chassis or housing 11 havinga pair of roller cups 12 rotatably mounted thereto. An endless track orbelt 13 circumscribes roller cups 1.7. which are spaced a distanceapart.

The track drive mechanism is detachably secured by suitable mountingmeans 14 to a toy body 25. In this particular em bodiment, the toy bodyresembles a snowmobile, but, of course, it may take any shape or form.Track high-velocity and skis, steering, make it ideal for this type oftoy. Toy body 25 includes a steering assembly 26 which will be describedin more detail hereinafter. In order to reduce the frictional forces ontrack 13, track drive mechanism may be posi tioned in body 25 bymounting means 14 so that track 13 is at a small angle to the horizontalsurface.

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 4, the track drive mechanism is shown inmore detail. Like parts will utilize like reference numerals. Drivechassis or housing 11 comprises two vertical sidewalls 15 which areconnected by means of cross strut 116. Housing 11 may be easilyfabricated out of sheet metal by a simple stamping operation in keepingwith the extremely lowcost design of the drive mechanism. Sidewalls 15each have a tab 17 on either end thereof. Tabs 17 coact with clips 153located on body 25 to form mounting means M which detachably securestrack drive mechanism is to the body.

Roller cups 12 are rotatably mounted in the sidewalls lb of housing 11.1by means of pins 19. It is not necessary to utilize hearings in housingmeans 11 in mounting roller cups l2 therein and this results inconsiderable cost savings. It should be noted that roller cups 12 aregenerally cylindrical in shape but are slightly crowned. That is, thediameter of rollers 12 is slightly greater in the center than at theends. This assists in the proper alignment of track 13, particularly athigh velocities.

Another design feature which may be utilized to insure proper trackalignment is adjustment means 20. Various devices may be utilized tomake one of the rollers 12 adjustable relative to the other. In FIG. 2,an arrangement comprising a pair of screws 21 threaded to engage withboth a bracket 2?; attached to housing unit 11 and receiver 23 in whichpins 19" are rotatably mounted provides the adjustment. Only one screw,nut and receiver need be utilized in some embodiments.

Motor means 25 is mounted on housing :11 by suitable means such asscrews 26. In this particular embodiment, motor means 255 is aunidirectional, single speed electric motor. However, the applicantsinvention can utilize a bidirectional motor, a multiple speed motor or acombination of both.

Motor means 25 has an output shaft 27 having a pinion 23 rigidlyattached thereto. Pinion 28 engages a spur gear 29 mounted upon housing11. Spur gear 29 had a pinion 30 integral therewith. Pinion 30 engagesanother spur gear 31 mounted on housing 11. Spur gear 21 engages spurgear 32 rigidly attached to roller 12. The means 33 connecting motor 25to roller cup 12 (pinion 28, gear 29', pinion 2t), gears 31, 32) arechosen to provide the proper power and velocity to roller 12. In theparticular embodiment illustrated, motor means 25 comprises a 1.2 oz. instatled torque motor which drives through a gear ratio of 10 to l toobtain a velocity of 5 feet per second. This is several times fasterthan any prior-art toy. Of course, various gear combinations can beutilized.

A power source 40 comprising dry cell batteries 41 and ll. is mountedbetween roller cup 12 in housing 11. Dry cell batteries 41, 42 aretypical D size, commercially available batteries. Only a single batterycan be utilized.

Batteries 41, -32 are connected in series by means of a suitable wiringharness or printed circuit 43 which connects them to motor 25. Wiringmeans 43 includes a switch 441- positioned thercin for interrupting thecurrent to motor 25. When a multiple speed motor is utilized, switch 14is effective to control the amount of current to motor means 25 so as tovary the speed thereof. One approach is to switch from two batteryoperation t tgle battery. Switch 2.75 may also be located on body 23illustrated in 1.

Thus, it is seen that power source ll), motor 25 and the means 33connecting motor 25 to roller 12 are all positioned between the pair ofrollers and track 13 circumscribes all of the track drive mechanism. Thesingle track is made wide enough to provide sufficient area for highstability at the lowest possible cost. The track can be driven in eitherdirection and at various speeds.

in an alternate embodiment, batteries 41 and 42 are positioned inside ofrollers 12 to further simplify the packaging of the components of thetrack drive assembly. This embodiment can take the form of the batteries41, d3. acting as the rollers per so, by merely rotatably mounting thebatteries in housing 11. Placing the batteries at each end of thehousing concentrates much of the weight of the assembly close to thetrack so as to provide maximum traction and excellent climbingcapability. It also reduces the cost of fabrication of the assembly byreducing of the number of components.

In operation, switch 44 is positioned so as to complete the circuitbetween power source 40 and motor means 25. More specifically, batteries41, 42 are connected in series through switch 44 to motor means 25 bymeans of wiring harness 43. Wiring harness 43 may take the form of aplated wire construction deposited along the sidewall of housing means11. This not only provides an extremely compact packaging arrangement,but facilitates easy battery replacement in the track drive mechanismwithout detaching from the toy body. Furthermore, it provides a highlyreliable circuit between the power source 40 and motor means 25.

When switch 44 closes the circuit between power source 40 and motor 25current from the batteries 41, 42 cause the motor means to rotate outputshaft 27. Output shaft 27 rotates pinion 28 which in turn rotates spurgear 29 and pinion 30. Pinion 30 engages spur gear 31 which in turnengages spur gear 24 rigidly attached to the shaft-supporting roller 12.If motor means 25 rotates in a clockwise direction about its axis asviewed in FIG. 4, it is clear that means 33 connecting the motor toroller 12, will cause it to rotate in a counterclockwise direction asviewed in FIG. This results in track drive mechanism to be driven to theleft as viewed in FIG. 4 as track 13 rotates with roller 12.

Referring back to FIG. 1, body 25 depicts a skimobile shape including ahood 51, a seat 52 and a light 53. Body 25 also has a hitch 54 thereon.Track drive mechanism 10 has sufficient power and speed to pullaccessories attached to hitch 54. Such accessories may take the form ofa sled or toboggan when operating in snow or a wheeled trailer whenoperating on a firm surface.

Steering assembly 26 is more clearly illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6.Handlebars 61 are attached to a handlebar hub 62. Handlebar 61 and hub62 are cast as one part in order to maintain a low cost assembly.Handlebar hub 62 is connected to steering linkage 63 which is bestillustrated in FIG. 6. Steering linkage 63 is molded out of plastic,such as polyethelene. In order to maintain the proper directionalrelationship with handle bar 61, steering linkage 63 must have thecrossover-shape indicated. The necked-down portion 64 of steeringlinkage 63 functions as a spring to allow slight displacement of thelinkage. Steering linkage 63 is connected to ski arms 65 which are heldin position by means of steering chassis 66. Steering chassis 66 isrigidly attached to body means 25. Ski arms 65 connect to a pair of skis55 by means of a pin 67. It is clear from the above description thatrotating handlebar 61 about the axis of handlebar hub 62 will cause skis55 to pivot about the longitudinal axis ofsteering arm 65 as viewed inFIG. 5.

Skis 55 may be adapted with wheels 56 as illustrated in FIGURE to reducethe friction level and increase the velocity when operating over a firmsurface. Another design feature which may be utilized to reduce frictionand increase velocity is to mount bogey wheels upon housing ill. Morespecifically, the bogey wheels would be mounted on the outside ofsidewalls and would run free of track 13.

Body 25 can be easily removed from the track dsive mechanism by slidingit rearwardly to uncouple mounting means 14. This allows easyreplacement of the power source and good accessibility for repairing anypart of the mechanism.

The high-velocity track mechanism utilized in this toy snowmobile bodywill allow high-velocity operation heretofore not available in flexibletrack toys. This toy snowmobile will appeal to a child because it willrun, climb, jump, and generally maneuver very similar to a full-sizesnowmobile.

An alternate motor means 749 is illustrated in MG. 3. An inertia motoris attached to housing 11, and includes a heavy flywheel 71 rotatablymounted on housing ill by suitable means (not shown). A pinion 72 isrigidly attached to flywheel 71 and rotates therewith. Pinion 71 engagesa gear 73 positioned perpendicular thereto and rotatably mounted onhousing 11 by means ofa shaft 74. Shaft 74 has a pinion 75 rigidlyattached to the other end thereof. Pinion 75 engages a large spur gear35 mounted on a shaft 35 rotatably mounted in sidewall 15 of housingmeans 11. A pinion 37 is mounted at the center of shaft 36 and engages acorresponding gear section 38 placed on roller 12. This particulargearing arrangement has the advantage of balancing the forces exertedupon roller cup 13 while reducing the number of gears. The inertia motoron gear arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3 may be fabricated at a lowercost than the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 since a few componentsare required. For example, a power source is not necessary.

Inoperation, track drive mechanism 210 is manually pushed against a firmsurface in a repeated manner so as to drive track 13 and causehigh-speed rotation of flywheel 71. Energy is stored in the heavyrotating flywheel. This energy is then transferred back to the trackafter the pushing has terminated. More specifically, if flywheel 71 isrotating in a clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 3, pinion 72 willcause gear 73 to rotate shaft 74 and pinion 28. The rotation of pinion28 will be in a counterclockwise direction when viewed in the planeincluding the bottom sidewall 15 ofhousing 11 in FIG. 3. Pinion 28engages spur gear 35 which is mounted on a common shaft with pinion 37.Thus, spur gear 35 and pinion 37 rotate in a clockwise direction so thatroller cup 12 is driven in a counterclockwise direction about its axis,thereby driving track 1&3 in such a manner as to move track drivemechanism 10 to the left as viewed in FIG. 3.

Although the invention has been described and illustrated in detail, itis to bi clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration andexample only and is not to be taken by way of limitation. The spirit andscope of this invention being limited only by the terms of the appendedclaims.

I claim:

1. A toy track drive mechanism comprising:

a drive chassis;

a pair of spaced-apart roller cups rotatably mounted on said drivechassis;

power source means mounted on said drive chassis between said rollercups;

electric motor means on said chassis between said roller cups;

conductor means connecting said power source to said motor means so asto provide current thereto; gear means mounted on said drive chassis andconnecting said motor means to one of said pair of roller cups; and

track means circumscribing said pair of roller cups, said power source,said motor means, said conductor means and said gear means; and

said power source being effective to cause said motor means and saidgear means to rotate said one of said pair of roller cups and move saidtrack means relative to said drive chassis.

2. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 1 wherein said pair of rollercups are crowned to provide track alignment at high velocity.

3. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 2 wherein said power sourcemeans includes a switch member for regulating the current to said motormeans.

8. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 3 wherein said power sourcecomprises at least one dry cell battery.

5. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 4 further including adjustmentmeans mounted on said drive chassis for varying the position of one ofsaid pair of roller cups relative to the other of said pair of rollercups.

6. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 5 further including body meansand mounting means for detachably securing said body means to said drivechassis.

'7. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 6 further including steeringmeans and ski means attached to said body.

8. A toy track drive mechanism comprising: an endless track rotatablymounted on a housing by at least two spacedapart rollers;

motor means;

means connecting said motor means to at least one of said rollers;

said motor means and said last-named means being positioned whollyinside of said track with said motor means being effective to rotatesaid at least one of said rollers and drive said track when energized bya power source.

9. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 8 further including a powersource connected to said motor means and positioned wholly within saidendless track.

10. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 9 wherein said power sourceis mounted in at least one of said rollers.

11. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 8, and including a body whichhas the shape of a snowmobile with steerable skis at one end of the sameand a cavity on the bottom surface of the body over a partial extent ofthe same, and mounting means securing the toy drive mechanism within thecavity of said body means, said skis having roller means journaledthereon and projecting below the undersurface of the skis to support oneend of the body with the track means supporting the other end of thebody.

12. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 11 wherein the skis of thebody with the roller means thereon elevate the body so that contact ofthe track means with a surface upon which the body is adapted to bepositioned is at the end of the body remote from the skis.

13. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 12 in which the body with thesteerable skis includes a journaled shaft and linkage connected to thesteerable skis to simultaneously pivot the skis with movement of theshaft.

14. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 8 including a body having theshape of a toy vehicle with steering Wheels at one end of the same, andmeans mounting the toy drive mechanism on the undersurface of the bodyremote from the steerable wheels such that one extremity of the trackmeans supports the other end of the body.

15. A toy track drive mechanism comprising: drive chassis means; a pairof track roller cups, means mounting said track roller cups near theextremities of the drive chassis means in spaced parallel relationshipand for rotation relative thereto, a drive source for said track rollercups connected to at least one of said roller cups, and flexible trackmeans positioned over the drive chassis means with the pair of trackroller cups thereon and said drive source enclosing the same.

16. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 15 in which the drive sourcefor the track roller cups includes motive means and a power sourcetherefore.

17. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 16 and including a body for atoy having a steerable support at one end of the same and a cavity onthe undersurface of the body over the partial extent of the same, andmeans included in part on the drive chassis means and in part on thebody for detachably securing the drive chassis within the cavity of thebody such that the steerable support of the body and the end of thetrack means remote from the steerable support are adapted to contact thesurface upon which the apparatus is placed for move ment thereon.

1. A toy track drive mechanism comprising: a drive chassis; a pair ofspaced-apart roller cups rotatably mounted on said drive chassis; powersource means mounted on said drive chassis between said roller cups;electric motor means on said chassis between said roller cups; conductormeans connecting said power source to said motor means so as to providecurrent thereto; gear means mounted on said drive chassis and connectingsaid motor means to one of said pair of roller cups; and track meanscircumscribing said pair of roller cups, said power source, said motormeans, said conductor means and said gear means; and said power sourcebeing effective to cause said motor means and said gear means to rotatesaid one of said pair of roller cups and move said track means relativeto said drive chassis.
 2. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 1wherein said pair of roller cups are crowned to provide track alignmentat high velocity.
 3. The toy traCk drive mechanism of claim 2 whereinsaid power source means includes a switch member for regulating thecurrent to said motor means.
 4. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 3wherein said power source comprises at least one dry cell battery. 5.The toy track drive mechanism of claim 4 further including adjustmentmeans mounted on said drive chassis for varying the position of one ofsaid pair of roller cups relative to the other of said pair of rollercups.
 6. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 5 further including bodymeans and mounting means for detachably securing said body means to saiddrive chassis.
 7. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 6 furtherincluding steering means and ski means attached to said body.
 8. A toytrack drive mechanism comprising: an endless track rotatably mounted ona housing by at least two spaced-apart rollers; motor means; meansconnecting said motor means to at least one of said rollers; said motormeans and said last-named means being positioned wholly inside of saidtrack with said motor means being effective to rotate said at least oneof said rollers and drive said track when energized by a power source.9. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 8 further including a powersource connected to said motor means and positioned wholly within saidendless track.
 10. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 9 wherein saidpower source is mounted in at least one of said rollers.
 11. The toytrack drive mechanism of claim 8, and including a body which has theshape of a snowmobile with steerable skis at one end of the same and acavity on the bottom surface of the body over a partial extent of thesame, and mounting means securing the toy drive mechanism within thecavity of said body means, said skis having roller means journaledthereon and projecting below the undersurface of the skis to support oneend of the body with the track means supporting the other end of thebody.
 12. The toy track drive mechanism of claim 11 wherein the skis ofthe body with the roller means thereon elevate the body so that contactof the track means with a surface upon which the body is adapted to bepositioned is at the end of the body remote from the skis.
 13. The toytrack drive mechanism of claim 12 in which the body with the steerableskis includes a journaled shaft and linkage connected to the steerableskis to simultaneously pivot the skis with movement of the shaft. 14.The toy track drive mechanism of claim 8 including a body having theshape of a toy vehicle with steering wheels at one end of the same, andmeans mounting the toy drive mechanism on the undersurface of the bodyremote from the steerable wheels such that one extremity of the trackmeans supports the other end of the body.
 15. A toy track drivemechanism comprising: drive chassis means; a pair of track roller cups,means mounting said track roller cups near the extremities of the drivechassis means in spaced parallel relationship and for rotation relativethereto, a drive source for said track roller cups connected to at leastone of said roller cups, and flexible track means positioned over thedrive chassis means with the pair of track roller cups thereon and saiddrive source enclosing the same.
 16. The toy track drive mechanism ofclaim 15 in which the drive source for the track roller cups includesmotive means and a power source therefore.
 17. The toy track drivemechanism of claim 16 and including a body for a toy having a steerablesupport at one end of the same and a cavity on the undersurface of thebody over the partial extent of the same, and means included in part onthe drive chassis means and in part on the body for detachably securingthe drive chassis within the cavity of the body such that the steerablesupport of the body and the end of the track means remote from thesteerable support are adapted to contact the surface upon which theapparatus is placed for movement thereon.